Australian commercial real estate firm Vicinity has announced a blockchain trial that will enable its shopping centers to supply energy to neighbouring communities.

Vicinity, which has approximately $6.9 billion of shopping centers under management, has partnered with Australian energy startup Power Ledger. Power Ledger’s blockchain technology will enable Vicinity to use its solar energy and trade energy within the network or send it back to the national grid to be consumed by others.

“Vicinity is one of the first property companies in Australia to be trialling energy blockchain technology and we’re committed to continuing that leadership through our integrated energy strategy,” said Justin Mills, Executive general manager of Vicinity. “We see our partnership with Power Ledger as a significant opportunity to unlock a future of more competitive energy prices for our retailers and customers while potentially sharing clean, renewable energy to the communities surrounding our centers.”

The trial, which is part of Vicinity’s $75 million solar energy program, will begin at Castle Plaza in South Australia and will be the first center to integrate Power Ledger’s blockchain, allowing the center to manage its energy use and distribution in real-time, switching between solar and national grid energy.

“Vicinity has proven to be an industry leader when it comes to renewable energy which is why the introduction of blockchain technology makes sense to its business,” said Power Ledger Managing Director and Co-founder David Martin. “It’s a smart solution for Vicinity as they pioneer the new energy economy.”

Since releasing its peer-to-peer (p2p) trading solution that allows households that whole own energy assets to trade electricity with their neighbors and set their own prices, Power Ledger has been engaged to develop additional products, such as microgrid trading, carbon product trading, electric vehicle settlement and asset germination events.